2022 marked a year of large-scale growth and diversification of the digital culture project “Spotlight Heritage Timișoara", which ends with two important awards, received at the Romanian PR Award Gala 2022, the most important national competition to the most important national competition to recognize excellence in the field of promotion: Gold in Excellence for the section "Communication in the public sector" and the special award "PR Innovator of the Year".

The 20th edition of the Romanian PR Award competition brought to the stage amazing themes and projects, campaigns and social impact projects, approached by large media trusts, prestigious organizations and agencies, alongside public and cultural institutions from Romania.

The success of this project caused great joy, given that this year, in the competition, 408 applications were registered in the 33 competition categories. The award of excellence took place in Bucharest, on November 24, 2022, enjoying the support of a top international jury, which brought together communication skills from 15 countries.

The award of excellence, The Golden Award was won by Spotlight Heritage Timișoara in the "Communication in the public sector" category, in which five other campaigns and social impact projects, carried out by associations and public institutions, were nominated. The special award of the evening, from a selection of 20 awards of excellence, offered for the project Patrimoniul sub Reflectoare/Spotlight Heritage Timișoara, was the distinction „PR Innovator of the Year", awarded by Telekom Romania Mobile, in particular, for innovation and the transferability of the idea to other fields or cities.

In the awarding speech of the "PR Innovator of the Year", it was mentioned that "innovation is not only a series of means, special partnerships or the way a project produces a change in a certain field", but represents those projects with very great impact in the community, which could be replicated by other institutions in Bucharest, Cluj, Iași and everywhere in Romania.

Dana Oancea, the President of the Forum for International Communications, the organizer of the PR Awards for 20 years, recalled the guiding words in the tradition of the Romanian PR Awards in the opening of the Awards Gala: focus on the target, trust, patience and tenacity.

Winners information: https://praward.ro/romanian-pr-award-si-a-desemnat-castigatorii-celei-de-a-xx-a-editii/

Associate Dr. Eng. Florin Drăgan, rector of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, expressed his gratitude to be present among the best in the field of PR, thanks to the awards won by the Politehnica University in the last two years.

Mr. Claudiu Ilaș director of the National Museum of Banat thanked the Timiș County Council, co-financier of the project, the museum team and Mrs. Diana Andone.

The initiator of this project, Dr. Diana Andone, the director of the e-Learning Center of the Politehnica University Timișoara, recalled the contribution of all the people involved in this project, in the presence of the official representatives of the partner institutions: Florin Drăgan, the Rector of the Politehnica University of Timișoara and Claudiu Ilaș, the director of the National Museum of Banat.

"For four years, Spotlight Heritage Timișoara has been telling the stories of those neglected by history - ordinary people, with the help of digital technology elements, created by the students and teachers of the Politehnica University of Timișoara and the exhibits from the heritage of the National Museum of Banat, staged by a team of museographers, formed by Marius Cornea, Zoran Marcov and Ciprian Glăvan. I would like to thank the students and teachers at the The Multimedia Centre and the UPT e-Learning Center, the Timișoara City Hall, but, especially, the three ladies who allowed us to use the novel by Ms. Liana Maria Gomboșiu, the family diary written by Ms. Professor Pia Brînzeu, the interview archive of the Oral History and Cultural Anthropology Group, established in 1998 and coordinated by professor Smaranda Vultur, and the poems of the well-known man of culture, Robert Șerban. We’d like to thank all our partners, Magnum Team Sports Dance Club, Thespis Student Theatre, artisans of the seven shows with elements of augmented and virtual reality. An impressive number of people followed us during these four years, from Dubai to Novi Sad, Kaunas and of course, Timișoara. The next Spotlight Heritage Timișoara exhibition will be held in Warsaw at the end of November. We are waiting for you to rediscover us in Timișoara, European Capital of Culture 2023! "! "

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara is a digital cultural initiative of the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, which overlays the physical heritage in a digital format, by using the latest generation technologies (web, mobile, AR, VR and XR). The project is co-financed by the Municipality of Timișoara, through the Project Center, The Timiș County Council and is part of the series of projects dedicated to the cultural program - Timișoara European Cultural Capital 2023.

The project was created with and for the community. One of the most important features of the project is its participatory nature: the involvement of students and teachers in the creation of digital artefacts, the participation of young people or seniors, cultural and academic sectors, all having a valuable contribution to the realization of this project.

The project added digital stories about Timișoara's neighborhoods and explored new technologies annually, giving citizens the opportunity to acquire complex skills in the production, access and distribution of cultural products. In this way, countless chapters related to the heritage of Timisoara can be glued together like a "puzzle", the project becoming a landmark of the city.

Watch the announcement for the special award "PR Innovator of the Year" here: the special award "PR Innovator of the Year":

Watch the announcement for the special award "PR Innovator of the Year" here: Gold in Excellence the section "Communication in the public sector":

About the Romanian PR Award

Designed as a modern competition, close to the standards and scope of Western competitions, the Romanian PR Award wants to be a performance arena in communication, the meeting place for those who respond to the challenge of facing the rigors of the profession. In its 20th edition, the Romanian PR Award is the most important national competition to recognize excellence in the field of Public Relations. A 'stubborn' and long-running project that managed to gather prestigious partners under the same umbrella, prominent names in the trade, valuable competitors and dozens of young people who aspire to start a career in PR. The importance of the competition has grown with the development of the local PR industry, and its relevance is measured in the multitude of contestants who join us year after year, in the performances of the finalists and in the professionalism of those who judge them.

Romanian PR Award is supported by Telekom Romania Mobile, main partner, by partners – Raiffeisen Bank, Ursus Breweries, Coca-Cola HBC, MedLife Romania, PENNY Romania, Transilvania Bank, KFC, Dacia and Samsung Electronics and by media partners – CARIERE Magazine, PR Romania, IAA Romania, IQads, AdHugger, CSR-Romania and Zelist.

About the organizer

The Forum for International Communications is a non-governmental organization that cultivates, among professional communicators, ethical and performance standards of the public relations profession. The foundation has been organizing the Romanian PR Award since 2003, established as the most important event to recognize excellence in the field of business communication in Romania. In April 2009, the foundation launched the PR Romania portal, one of the most relevant online PR publications in Europe, according to the Communications Director. In March 2006, Forum initiated the CSR Romania program with the aim of promoting good practices in the field of corporate social responsibility, a program affiliated to the European CSR Europe network. Together with the partners from the private and public sector, Forum has been implementing the Romanian Diversity Charter since 2017.

More details about the competition at https://praward.ro/